'A careful disorderliness' in biomolecular structure revealed by Raman optical activity

Area of Science:

• Biophysical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy
• Structural Biology

Background:

• Raman optical activity (ROA) is a chiroptical spectroscopy technique.
• ROA analyzes circular polarization dependence in Raman scattering from chiral molecules.
• It has been utilized for biomolecule studies for 50 years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the applications of ROA in biomolecular structure determination.
• To highlight ROA's insights into disordered biomolecular states.
• To discuss the functional and disease implications of 'careful disorderliness'.

Main Methods:

• ROA spectroscopy for analyzing biomolecules in aqueous solution.
• Quantum chemical simulations to interpret ROA spectra.
• Analysis of protein, carbohydrate, and nucleic acid structures.

Main Results:

• ROA provides information on protein secondary structure, fold, and motif.
• It elucidates the structure of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, glycoproteins, and viruses.
• Quantum chemical simulations yield complete 3D biomolecular structures and dynamics.

Conclusions:

• ROA offers significant insights into disordered biomolecular states, from random coils to specific helical structures.
• This 'careful disorderliness' is linked to biomolecular function, dysfunction, and diseases like amyloid fibril formation.
• ROA is a powerful tool for understanding complex biomolecular structures and dynamics.